Doctrine

DOCTRINAL STATEMENT

The Bible
We believe that God has revealed Himself and His special message to man in the Bible. To do this, we believe that God superintended the writings of the books of the Bible so that all of its ideas and words are authoritative and without error. The Bible is, therefore, the Word of God, and we find in it our ultimate authority for belief and behavior.

God
We believe that there is only one true God who has always existed in three Persons whom the Bible names the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All of creation originated, is sustained, and will culminate in the purposes of the Father. According to the Father’s will, the Son entered human existance by the birth. He lived a sinless life and died in the place of each person and as a payment for the sins of all humans. He was buried and rose again in victory over death. We believe that this Jesus will come again to earth in the same physically real body that ascended into heaven. The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin, makes alive spiritually those who believe, and lives within all Christians in order to empower their lives.

Salvation
We believe that all humans are born sinners and separated from the life of God. They can be saved only by God’s grace through faith in the sacrifice which the Son made by the shedding of His blood on the cross. This salvation provides eternal life to the believer: a life that begins now and extends beyond death forever. Therefore, we believe in the resurrection of the dead. Believers will be resurrected to endless life, but unbelievers will be resurrected to endless punishment.

The Church
We believe that the church is the earthly body of the Lord Jesus Christ for which He will return at any time. It is made up of all whom He has called up and redeemed. The Lord Jesus makes Himself known through the Holy Spirit who produces the life of Christlike holiness in each Christian and the whole church. We believe that the Lord Jesus commands every Christian to be baptized as an outward expression of personal faith in Him and to partake regularly in the Lord’s Supper.

MISSION STATEMENT
Grace Fellowship Church exists for the purpose of glorifying God in following the directives of the New Testament through the power of the Holy Spirit
by expounding the Scripture

by following the Scripture in structuring the church

by discipling believers into maturity as they allow Christ to live His life through them

by developing shepherding elders

by building up one another in Christ

by equiping and encouraging believers to share Christ through life and words

in the sphere of the home, community, and throughout the world.

SUNDAY SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT
The Sunday School of Grace Fellowship Church exists to supplement parental training in the home. The biblical mandate is, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)

We desire to help parents in this regard by exposing their children to other Christian adults who:

Model the love of God in all their relationships;
Communicate the gospel clearly;
Communicate basic Christian values;
Communicate basic biblical content in all doctrinal areas;
Communicate basic Christian skills such as
prayer
witnessing
Bible study
resulting in a genuine hunger for God in every area of life.